Chicago gas prices are the highest in the nation, according to AAA Chicago.

And they're not expected to drop any time soon.

"I just counted how much I can spend today for my gas- $25," Sagita Rajic said. She's giving up other things, she said. "Don't spend on the clothes, don't spend on women's stuff, like cosmetics."

According to AAA, the price for gasoline in the Midwest continues to climb even as the national average drops. That's true for both Illinois and Indiana.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline averages at $4.05 in Illinois and $3.96 in Indiana. While much of the rest of the U.S. had dropped gas prices, they're going up in the Midwest.

"I just drove from Florida up to Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and the gas was much cheaper elsewhere," Ann Rundle said.

Analysts say Chicago's pump prices reflect the region's stature. With all the people, cars and industry in the city, the Environmental Protection Agency requires cleaner burning "reformulated summer gasoline" to be sold in the area stretching north to Milwaukee, west to Rockford, east into Michigan and south past the collar counties.

"What we use in Chicago is different than what is used in downstate Illinois, it is different than what is used in Missouri, different than Detroit, different than plain, old conventional gasoline," Patrick DeHaan, Gasbuddy.com, said.

Prices are 38-cents higher than a year ago, DeHaan said. Forecasting how high they'll go is difficult, he said.